What To Provide Overnight?

[Hannahmania]

We have a new 8.5 week old Maltese x Shih Tzu (product of an accidental breeding - I get the impression that this forum is very pure-breed focussed, so I want to clarify that she wasn't a pet store or backyard breeder pup!)

Anyway, both my husband and I grew up with outdoor mutts, and so this whole indoor dog thing is fairly new. At the moment Charli is sleeping in our ensuite, and all going well, that will be where she stays overnight until she is housetrained.

The one thing I am not sure about... Should we be giving her water overnight, or is that just going to be making it harder to housetrain her?

Also, is it better to bring her bed into our bedroom for a few nights if she is crying, or are we best just to leave her in the ensuite to save making a rod for our own backs? Unfortunately the main bathroom and the laundry are berween the kids rooms, so they are not an option if we decide to tough it out.

Thanks!

[Guest Ams]

At that age she will still need access to water during the evening. You may need to take her out once or twice to toilet during the night. I would start out as you intend to go on, so tought it out with the crying. Good luck.

[Hannahmania]

Thanks! I have been taking her for drinks overnigt when she has been out to go toilet, but I will start putting her bowl in with her.

She has been awesome so far! She has been home 2 nights, the first night she slept by our bed as she only got here about 8 in the evening. Last night we had her in the ensuite. She was asleep when I first took her bed in, and the second time I stayed with her until she went to sleep. Third time she cried for about 5 mins, and maybe 10 mins the fourth time.

She has only had 2 accidents inside, one because I stopped to put my dressing gown on, and she apparently couldn't wait that long, and the other because my husband brought her in too soon from the morning toilet run. Nothing in the last 24 hours, and she is now doing her business as soon as we get outside! I don't know that they did any real toilet training with them before we got her, so I am really impressed!

Edited May 8, 2010 by Hannahmania

[Danois]

Bathrooms are heat sinks and can be very cold - I would not be leaving a young small breed pup in one overnight. Invest in a crate and use that.

[Hannahmania]

Ours is in the centre of the house, and we have central heating, so it stays warm enough. She also has a wheat pack in her bed that I reheat every few hours when I take her out to the toilet.

[Okami]

Congratulations on your new puppy Hannahmania and welcome to DOL!

I would leave a shallow bowl of water with her overnight.....

And I agree with Danios Bathrooms / Laundries are really cold... even if you have central heating.... tiles are the pitts!

What have you got her sleeping on?

Can we have photos of her?!?

[Nushie]

Sorry to butt in but i have a quick question regarding toileting at night.

I get my little guy on Sunday and he will be 8weeks old. I intend to have him crated in our bedroom, but was wondering how long i should leave it between toilet breaks? Should i wake up every 3 hours to take him out? Every 2hours? Every 6 hours? I know they say 30-60 minutes during the day and after waking, eating and playing. But i am not sure of how long they can hold on for at night?

Thanks

PS: he is a pug.

[W Sibs]

ohh.. any pics?

I always have water out for my pups.

Sorry to butt in but i have a quick question regarding toileting at night.

I get my little guy on Sunday and he will be 8weeks old. I intend to have him crated in our bedroom, but was wondering how long i should leave it between toilet breaks? Should i wake up every 3 hours to take him out? Every 2hours? Every 6 hours? I know they say 30-60 minutes during the day and after waking, eating and playing. But i am not sure of how long they can hold on for at night?

Thanks

PS: he is a pug.

Depending on the pup. Emmy gets up around 2am and 5am every morning. But, she sleeps on the bed with me so I know when she wakes up straight away.

They usually let you know when they are awake and wants to go out.

Charlie, my first pup, only got up once during the night and was able to hold it in by the time he was 10 weeks. He does love his sleep!

Edited May 10, 2010 by charleswentworth

[Clyde]

I would get a crate and have pup in with you for first couple of weeks. I have not ever left water for a pup overnight. My dogs learn to have a drink and a wee before bed time. Letting them drink overnight is only setting them up for needing wees overnight at that age.

[Hannahmania]

This is Charli:

She is sleeping in a dog bed with a towel in it (the one we used to hold her in the car on the way home, which she has become quite attached to) and a wheat pack. There is also newspaper down over most of the floor. Our house is kept very warm overnight, as my son is in a cast with a broken femur, and can't wear pants to bed, and being 2.5 he is not good at staying under the covers. So the rest of us sweat away all night, but the ensuite does stay warm for Charli. (Side note: Toby was supposed to be out of the cast this week, but we have now found out it is going to be another 3 weeks or more! Kinda wish we knew that before we got a puppy!)

Edited May 10, 2010 by Hannahmania

[LuvMyCav]

Awww Charli's a sweetie!!! I prefer the idea of crating in the bedroom next to your bed too. I've never left water in the crates overnight for the same reason that Clyde mentioned. When mine used to get up in the night for a wee, he passed his water bowl but never stopped for a drink.

Sorry to butt in but i have a quick question regarding toileting at night.

I get my little guy on Sunday and he will be 8weeks old. I intend to have him crated in our bedroom, but was wondering how long i should leave it between toilet breaks? Should i wake up every 3 hours to take him out? Every 2hours? Every 6 hours? I know they say 30-60 minutes during the day and after waking, eating and playing. But i am not sure of how long they can hold on for at night?

Thanks

PS: he is a pug.

He'll let you know with a whine/cry when he needs to toilet. Just remember to make sure the crate is sectioned off so it's not big enough to toilet down one end and sleep up the other. :D

[Starkehre]

I would get a crate and have pup in with you for first couple of weeks. I have not ever left water for a pup overnight. My dogs learn to have a drink and a wee before bed time. Letting them drink overnight is only setting them up for needing wees overnight at that age.

Agreed. A full bladder and setting pup up to foul the crate is far worse than the slight possibility of pup perhaps getting thirsty. Particularly this time of year... it is usually not hot at night.

I also ensure I can hear pup, so if by chance there is heavy panting, I will take out for an extra trip and a little drink.

I set alarm at 2am for one empty every night for first 1-2 weeks, then all my pups hang on no problems after that. Some within the first week.

[Hannahmania]

Thanks everyone!

I have been offering her water each time she is up overnight, but she has not shown any real interest in it. Last night she was much more settled in the ensuite - cried a bit the first time she went in, then slept for 5 hours (!!!) from midnight to 5, then went back to sleep with almost no fuss! I HATE leaving her cry - it goes against all my instincts as a mum. She is getting there, though, and I know if I give in now we will be back to square one!

Meanwhile, house training has gone down the drain... I stepped on her foot yesterday when she ran between my legs as I was juggling the door and the lead. She wasn't injured (I have closely checked her feet) but she was a bit put out at the time, and now stuffs around when I take her out to toilet. On top of that it was raining last, and she flat refused to go on the grass, so I took her in the carport, wouldn't go there either... then as soon as I bought her inside she wee'd on the carpet, then pooed on the tiles. Thanks for that, Charli! She seems to have improved slightly this morning, though.

[LuvMyCav]

Thanks everyone!

I have been offering her water each time she is up overnight, but she has not shown any real interest in it. Last night she was much more settled in the ensuite - cried a bit the first time she went in, then slept for 5 hours (!!!) from midnight to 5, then went back to sleep with almost no fuss! I HATE leaving her cry - it goes against all my instincts as a mum. She is getting there, though, and I know if I give in now we will be back to square one!

Meanwhile, house training has gone down the drain... I stepped on her foot yesterday when she ran between my legs as I was juggling the door and the lead. She wasn't injured (I have closely checked her feet) but she was a bit put out at the time, and now stuffs around when I take her out to toilet. On top of that it was raining last, and she flat refused to go on the grass, so I took her in the carport, wouldn't go there either... then as soon as I bought her inside she wee'd on the carpet, then pooed on the tiles. Thanks for that, Charli! She seems to have improved slightly this morning, though.

Oh dear, I can sympathise with the rain. My girl doesn't like to step on wet grass in the garden, doesn't mind it out in the street though, lol. I've spent many a cold wet night outside waiting for her to toilet before bed. When Charlie was a little pup, I can remember standing outside in the pouring rain with an umbrella for so long. He didn't mind the rain at all, he just didn't fancy doing a wee for quite a while.

:D It does get easier. ;)

[mrs tornsocks]

Thanks everyone!

I have been offering her water each time she is up overnight, but she has not shown any real interest in it. Last night she was much more settled in the ensuite - cried a bit the first time she went in, then slept for 5 hours (!!!) from midnight to 5, then went back to sleep with almost no fuss! I HATE leaving her cry - it goes against all my instincts as a mum. She is getting there, though, and I know if I give in now we will be back to square one!

Meanwhile, house training has gone down the drain... I stepped on her foot yesterday when she ran between my legs as I was juggling the door and the lead. She wasn't injured (I have closely checked her feet) but she was a bit put out at the time, and now stuffs around when I take her out to toilet. On top of that it was raining last, and she flat refused to go on the grass, so I took her in the carport, wouldn't go there either... then as soon as I bought her inside she wee'd on the carpet, then pooed on the tiles. Thanks for that, Charli! She seems to have improved slightly this morning, though.

Ah the joys of puppyhood - but what a cutie ! How long were you outside with her before you brought her in ?

I'd also recommend crate training, also means if you want to take her anywhere, it's simple. Good too, for when she gets a bit more bolshy and runs around and in between everyone, and you want to just calm her a tad, esp if you've got a young soon. Just a good, cosy, warm and 'den' like environment for a young pup.

[Earthdog]

She is very cute. Another who would go the crate option.

[Jen21]

My Maltese X pup (who is now 18 months, I got him when he was 10 weeks), sleeps in the laundry on a dog bed, and I have never done the crate thing, so you don't have to.

For the first couple of weeks he would let me know when he needed to go out to toilet during the night, but he has slept through for 7-8 hours a night ever since. Make sure you take yours out to wee before you put her to bed and as soon as she gets up, and she'll get there in no time. Mine always has access to a water bowl in the laundry with him, and I never saw that as a problem. I think the key was setting up "his room" (or part of the room in your case) up permanently so he knows the purpose of that place, and goes in and out as he likes during the day for a drink to grab a toy, etc. In some ways the laundry is like a big crate for him I guess.

Your pup is gorgeous

Edited May 11, 2010 by Jen21

[Hannahmania]

How long were you outside with her before you brought her in ?

Probably about 3 or 4 minutes? During the day I leave it longer, but it was cold and wet (although a good chunk of the time was spent under the carport where it was at least dry).

Last night she went from 10.30 when I put her to bed to 6.30 when my husband got up for work, no crying, and no accidents! Kinda made up for the 4 or 5 accidents she had yesterday! BAH! If I took her out too frequently (like every 30 minutes to hour) she was just mucking around, and not going to the toilet, but if I left her a little longer (like 1.5 hours) she would wee on the floor. One time I picked up her lead, as she had just woken, and she ran off in the other direction and piddled on the carpet! Now I hold on to her until we are out the door! lol.

I have generally been taking her out as soon as she wakes, and if she has been more than an hour before her next full "nap" I will take her again, and for the most part that seems to be working.

She had her first outing today to my daughters kinder - they have Dog Week on at the moment, so I took her down to talk about what we do to care for her and train her. My daughter showed the other kids how to teach her to sit, and a bit about what she likes to play with, then carried her around the circle for each of the kids to have a pat - so cute!! This is a child who was scared of dogs a week ago! Proud mummy here!

She has settled really well into the ensuite. I do like that it means she has somewhere she is used to that I can leave her if we are out, where she has paper to go to the toilet if she needs to. The last 24 hours or so she has taken to complaining when she goes in for a few seconds, or if she hears someone outside the ensuite to remind them she is there, but that is it. The ensuite is small, BTW... there is maybe about a square metre of empty floor space, maybe slightly more. So it is a fairly cosy area.

[percyk]

i toilet trained all of our dogs ( the recent tribe ie) in the following fashion

id sleep with them tethered to my wrist

theyd be on the bed with me

at the first stirring id be up and out in the garden...even in winter

very soon...only about a week...the pups could hold it til about 530 or even six if i toileted them at midnight

but they never had any water

they were in my bedroom ...no bowls

id do the same method againwith my next pup...which wont be for many many years now cos we are a full house at the mo

the hassle is great in the beginning...especially if it is a winter puppy but it is quickly toilet trained cos there are very few accidents and they get the picture quickly

it really helped of course that we had other dogs...especially the bitch...she was desexed of course..but even so the boys would all squat over where she went..one after the other///even to thisday..they wait for the old girl to go and two of them still do their duty over her patch